Benched Again

So the thing about being an ensign on the Verity is that nobody actually remembers your name unless they need someone to recalibrate the waste reclaimer. Pell had been aboard fourteen months. She had recalibrated the waste reclaimer nine times. She had been assigned to exactly zero away missions, and this morning Commander Astor had read the roster aloud in the briefing room and gotten to the bottom of it without her name appearing anywhere on it, again, and then looked up with that pleasant face he had and asked if there were any questions. Pell had a question. The question was loud and it had been getting louder for fourteen months. She did not ask it. She said nothing, the way you said nothing, and went back to the reclaimer, and that was the morning she decided she was finished saying nothing. She just didn't tell anyone yet. You don't announce these things. You just stop showing up the way they expect.